Naruto: Hero of the Leaf?
by aberaham tulip
Summary: Naruto must find a way to achieve his dreams of becoming Hokage despite the machinations of an entire village dedicated to his destruction, the prejudices of his fellow villagers, and the monster locked inside him.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: This is an AU story with a point of divergence being the existence of another hidden village with a strange set of beliefs. The first two episodes of the series remain canon. The story starts in the beginning of Episode three after Naruto arrives in the classroom for the graduates.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of world they live. This story is not for profit, and is a parody written for fun.

Chapter 1:

The first clue that something was wrong was the strange white mist that appeared inside the crystal ball he'd planned to use to show the jonin their new students. The instructors had all arrived, and where milling about, trying to spare him the embarrassment of noticing his technical difficulties. He desperately wanted to believe that the odd static that made it impossible to view the most recent graduating class, was merely a failure on his end.

But he knew nothing was ever that simple. He was already running his mind through every jutsu he knew of, in search of what could have had this specific effect. Maybe they would be lucky and it was just another of Naruto's pranks. Maybe the boy had picked up some smoke bombs and had flooded the classroom. Maybe the crystal was working perfectly.

And maybe the Fourth Hokage would miraculously turn up alive and a blissful retirement would once again be within reach.

Somehow Sarutobi doubted either possibility likely. The timing was too suspicious. A sinking feeling stole into his heart. Mizuki still hadn't been found, and if the traitor hadn't been working alone it was feasible he could have spent the days after the exams to gather his allies for an assault. As the Hokage went to order the Jonin standing around muttering to check on the academy, the windows outside his office shattered and seven ninja leaped through. He didn't recognize their uniforms, but he doubted they were mere Chunin.

The attack itself began exactly one second after the fog had begun. The timing was as precise as the plan was detailed. Which was only right. Despite what the rouge Chunin Mizuki thought, this had not been a hastily planned affair. The planning for the attack had been in place for months before Mizuki had failed in his mission.

The elders of the village hidden beneath the stars, had not trusted the rogue jonin's seemingly simplistic plan. They had even said as much to Anaba when they asked him to continue laying the ground work for this mission. Of course they hadn't told the supposedly renegade leaf ninja that. Anaba himself, had told Mizuki that all their hopes had been pinned on him.

Which had been far from the truth. Anaba had already been several months into planning the strike against the village hidden in the leaf when the traitorous Chunin had been found by one of his operatives.

In that time Anaba hadn't been idle. He'd spent the first month studying the information that he'd been presented with and creating a general outline for the mission. The next month he had focused on sneaking in his operatives, and having them report back with any information they could acquire. In addition to allowing him to refine his plan with additional information, this allowed him to test the leaf's ability to police their own land, and his operatives ability to move within an enemy village.

His operatives had hardly had a challenge setting up cover lives as normal citizens. The current Hokage was too soft, too trusting. Like many leaders he allowed non-shinobi to enter and live in the village, however unlike in several of the other villages Anaba had studied the Leaf did not keep rigorous track of these regular citizens every movements. In the Village hidden in the clouds there were entire departments dedicated to monitoring the movements and activities of the regular populace. Here though privacy was still allowed. As were wandering merchants and immigrants. The large amount of newcomers, and the freedoms allowed those who visited or came to stay combined with the fact that the low numbers of high level ninja this village had to be spread thin in order to continue training the young, complete the missions the village undertook, and police the city, meant that this village was unusually susceptible to infiltration.

And while it was true that Ibiki's squads were some of the most elite counter intelligence specialists in the known world, their lack of numbers was simply an insurmountable limitation. Which suited Anaba just fine. He'd rather enjoyed the detailed information his scouts had been able to procure: a precise layout of the town; the schedules and behavior patterns for his targets; an extensive amount of gossip and some very good observations as well. Mai had also found Mizuki.

Mai was one of his few female operatives. The council normally did not approve of women neglecting their traditional duties for the life of one of the tribe's warriors. But she was one of the rare exceptions. It wasn't because her talents for deception and manipulation were simply unrivaled. Which they were. She would have been by far one of the most adept politicians the tribe had ever seen. Her facility in the diplomatic arts made her perfect for the roles allotted for women.

What really made her an invaluable asset to their ninja, and was what enabled her to avoid the life of a politician, was her skill at assimilating into other cultures. Where it normally took years of intense study and practice for even his most skilled operatives to be able to blend into a the populace of a foreign land Mai was able to memorize and internalize most aspects of a culture after only a few weeks of study.

She'd been posing as widowed shopkeeper who had moved to the fire country in order to escape the horrible situation in wave country. From there she'd managed to gain the confidence of one of the high placed members of one of Konoha's respected clans, who had had business in the fire capital while she was there. Over time she'd managed to parlay that connection into a sponsorship with the hidden village, and had become one of the chief suppliers of goods and services to the small village. She routinely made supply runs and was even a part owner in a few of the newer shops.

She'd not be participating in the actual attack. Her current cover identity was too valuable for their village to sacrifice even for a mission as vital as this. No instead, they would be using the disgraced leaf ninja Mizuki. The fool would be the perfect cover for how their attack squads would have such detailed information about the village. And the fool, had a grudge against their target, so it was likely the entire mission would be looked upon as an attempt to obtain the scroll Mizuki had failed to procure with the Chunin going out of his way for a little revenge.

It had been easy to manipulate the disgraced chunin into participating in the plan. All Anaba had needed to do was offer the fool a chance for revenge and asylum. He'd told the ninja that all that needed to occur was for Konoha's blasphemous mistake to be rectified. And if Mizuki did that his men would even procure the forbidden scroll for Mizuki in addition to sheltering him from the anbu hit squads that were even now following a false trail Anaba had left for them.

And now months of planning were about to be realized. They would assault the village, slay the monstrosity and rectify the natural order. And the foolish leaf ninjas would never piece together just what happened. Their own unthinking arrogance and misplaced hatred would blind them into thinking it was a raid upon their precious secret scroll.

And so the operation began as the cloying white smoke curled into the Hokage's crystal ball, blinding him to the destruction of his legacy.

In a small clearing a solid ten minute run outside of the village of Konoha, there where seven men sitting on the damp ground. Each had their eyes closed and legs crossed. Their attention was far away, focused on a building in the nearby village.

Each of the men wore only the ceremonial loincloth befitting one of their status, and a small rough opaque rock tied to a leather chocker. The oldest of them, a man whose flesh was pockmarked with hundreds of ritual and battle scars sat patiently in the front of the formation. His name was Unando and he was the highest ranked male in his village. He occupied the position of Speaker, and he should be at this moment hundreds of miles away on one of the highest plateaus near his home village. It was the time for the anointing of the destinies. He should have been preparing the ceremonial paints from the fallen rocks. He should have been reviewing the candidates for Scouts and be looking for the few among the scouts who had the potential to join his Painted. Instead he'd left one of his juniors in charge and had come to this forsaken village. Then he felt the fog appear, blocking the target from his mind. Steeling himself he began to prepare to use the jutsu, the reason he'd come.

Maka bit the inside of his lip with just enough pressure to tear the away the fresh scab that had been growing there, and to reopen the small incision he'd made earlier. Around him the rest of his team did the same. As the iron taste of his own blood trickled onto his tongue he could feel the haze that had clouded his farsight fade. Nodding to the rest of his team and their two defenders, he closed his eyes and began to chant. As his lips and throat created the necessary rhythmic incantations he focused his chakra. His hands came to rest on the stone hanging from a leather strap on his neck. His squad did the same.

It was time.

The building that houses Konoha's anbu appears to be a typical example of Konoha architecture. It is a squat ugly thing, in the shape of a rectangle and lined with windows. It was no more durable than any other building. It's only abnormal structural feature was the ease with which it could be exited. Every window was large enough for a person to leap from. There were several emergency doors that only locked from the outside, and multiple ways to reach any floor, including the roof.

It had been designed with two things in mind. First the anbu's headquarters was a likely target for any invading force. Further it would be a costly use of manpower to directly take on the anbu, so it was more likely that an enemy would attempt to destroy the building and those inside it through the use of explosives or some other technique. And since there was no way to perfectly keep out every enemy ninja it was deemed more important that the occupants would be able to easily escape and that it would be impossible to trap them inside. Also the anbu needed to able to quickly leave the premises in order to respond to any threat to the city.

The current Hokage hadn't ordered the building altered. He agreed with his predecessors logic, and although he was aware of the vulnerability of a force of enemy ninjas attacking the building outright, he'd was deemed better to have them attack the Anbu headquarters rather than have them attack the city itself in order to lure the anbu out. Also the tempting target would force many enemies to waste most of their force trying to take out the Anbu.

The Anbu were well aware of both the weaknesses in their building and the logic behind them. Altogether most were pleased to be the guardians of the city and looked upon such a thing as part of the job.

The various squad leaders had even prepared several battle plans that would give a nasty surprise to any assault squads. A few of the more ambitious ones had even prepared a few traps that could be easily armed in case an invading force was detected.

However none of these preparations proved to be useful when the enemy appeared suddenly without warning in your midst. Such a thing did not often happen in the world of the Anbu. They were the elite ninja of Konoha. There should have been no enemy that could surprise them.

Unfortunately today, they would find that even veterans such as they could be surprised.

In a classroom located in the Ninja Academy, across town from both the Anbu operations building and the barracks for on duty ninjas, Naruto was becoming annoyed. Why didn't Sakura want to talk to him! He was a way better ninja than that idiot Sasuke. The stupid pretty boy had probably never beat up a chunin! And yet all the girls were obsessed with the black haired idiot! It didn't make any sense.

And worse yet, he'd been shoved aside like he was nothing. He was a genin now! People should see him; should acknowledge him. He was gonna be the next Hokage! And then they'd have to pay attention to him! They couldn't go on ignoring him for pretty boy Uchicas.

Picking himself up from the floor where the horde of Sasuke's obsessed fan girls had knocked him while they fought over the precious seat next to the scowling boy. The desire to leap onto the desk and examine what was so special the boy swept through him. His legs hand tensed to propel him forward to do just that when a familiar voice sapped the strength from his leg.

"Where are you brat? You won't win this time!"

A flash of anger ripped through Naruto, washing way the wave of anxiety. It was Mizuki! The traitorous bastard who'd tried to set him up. Suddenly Naruto was on his feet again, screaming loudly next to the ear of the woman he often sought to date.

"OY. I'm not hiding you traitor! I'll kick your ass again! Believe it!"

He sought to strike an intimidating pose, one that would strike fear into the heart of his enemy and impress Sakura with his awesome prowess. Instead he crashed back to the floor as his beloved's fist connected with his face.

"Naruto you idiot! You can't talk to a teacher that way! I'm sorry Mizuki-san, he's an idiot," she said as she bowed quickly trying to mollify the wrath of the teacher Naruto had so unjustly insulted before he punished the entire class again. She would not do needless repetitions of a jutsu she had already mastered on the day when she would finally be teamed with Sasuke-kun and be able to realize her destiny as his girlfriend. And soon she would finally be free of that annoying brat Naruto. She would not let him delay that moment for even a second.

Her bow was so deep, that she missed the cruel smirk that lit up his face and the shuriken that appeared between two of his fingers. He walked forward sliding the hand that held his weapon closer to his leg.

"No need to apologize Sakura-chan. I know you know the proper respect for a teacher. You can stop bowing."

As he walked closer to the unsuspecting girl a brilliant plan began to form in his mind. He remembered this girl. She was smart, picked things up quickly, but didn't really have the makings of a true ninja. Though the way she'd assaulted the demon fox a second before was rather impressive. Any other day he might just encourage her to beat the little brat to death for him. But the brat had defeated him, humiliated him and cost him the power he'd been seeking and his place in the village. He was lucky no one had informed the other little brats what had happened. And even luckier that they had such disdain for Naruto not to listen to the brat. But he couldn't afford to gloat forever. Eventually Iruka would come back, and then his free pass would be up.

But in the short time he had he could get the most telling revenge before he carried out his part of the bargain and killed the blond brat. He remembered why he knew Sakura. It wasn't because of her ninja skills. No, she'd stood out in his mind because the blonde brat was in love with her. He'd follow her and badger her with repeated unwanted requests for a date. If Naruto had somehow passed the Genin exam Mizuki had planned to use the boy's unrequited love for the girl to convince the brat to steal the scroll.

But now he had an even better plan. He would kill the girl while the brat watched helplessly. The question was how to do it. Should he launch the shuriken in his hand into her large forehead? Should he slice open her neck? Or maybe he should squeeze the life from her while the others watched helplessly. If he'd had the time, he'd lure her away, and torture her until she was nothing more than a bloody mess and mail her to the boy piece by piece. But he didn't have that kind of time.

He would just have to settle for a quick, painless death. Hopefully it would be enough to make the boy suffer before it was his turn as well. The decision made, he spun, throwing the star shaped weapon at the now standing girl. The movement was swift, and her classmates had been too absorbed in their own personal dramas to notice the weapon in his hand.

Or so he thought.

Shikamaru was unhappy. First his mother had tracked him down early this morning, forcing him to give up the perch he'd found to indulge in his favorite hobby. If that wasn't troublesome enough she'd made him walk all the way to Ino's house so that they could walk over together. The troublesome woman seemed to think if she forced the two of them to spend time together they'd fall in love and she could have the grandchildren she so desired. It was so troublesome.

As was Ino. She'd insisted on waiting for Sakura to come by. Something about proving who deserved Sasuke. It was troublesome. And a lie, but it would be too troublesome to call the blond on her self delusions. Then he'd have to talk to her about it. So instead he'd muttered under his breath and trudged onwards towards class. He'd arrived early only to see Naruto happily sitting next to the annoying Uchicha who was the fixation of all the girls in their year. With the exception of the Hyugga who kept blushing every time she got near Naruto. It was all so troublesome.

Despite his annoyance and desire to go back to sitting quietly watching the clouds, in deference to his old friendship with Naruto from when they were younger, he figured he'd warn the energetic boy. He was just as stubborn as Shikamaru remembered. The same boundless energy the boy had put into running around with him, Choji and Kiba, pulling whatever pranks they could get away with, the blonde spent trying to convince him that he'd passed the test after all. Maybe the story he'd overheard a few chunin's discuss as he'd watched clouds that morning was true.

But that would mean that one of their teachers was a traitor, and that Naruto had stolen a priceless scroll and mastered one of the techniques hidden within it. He'd put it all out of his mind when he took his seat. He'd picked a seat near a window so he could watch the clouds. He'd been almost enjoying himself when Mizuki burst into the classroom.

He couldn't help but notice the way the man carried himself, and the words he'd used. When Naruto had answered the challenge for a rematch, Shikamaru forced himself to conclude that the rumors had been right. Mizuki was a traitor and Naruto had defeated him. Which meant that the chunin would only be back for revenge, and only if he had the support of an organization that could not only throw off the Anbu who would currently be pursuing Mizuki for the betrayal of the leaf, but provide back up for the mission in the heart of enemy diversion. From there it was easy to deduce that it was likely a diversion to cover another attempt on the scroll. By the time Sakura had started apologizing Shikamaru had already finished his assessment of the situation. By the time Mizuki had started to talk Shikamaru had figured out what the cruelest way to punish Naruto would be. When Sakura stopped bowing, Shikamaru knew that none of his classmates would realize. He would have to act.

How troublesome.

Naruto jerked back to his feet as the bastard moved forward, towards Sakura. The genin's vision clouded over with anger at the bastards words. How dare he! He was the traitor! He was no teacher of the leaf, not anymore. And what did he want with Sakura-chan? Naruto's question was answered a second later when Mizuki's hand whipped towards Sakura's head.

A small piece of metal streaked toward her. It was too late for Naruto to act. Even with his boundless confidence in his abilities he knew he'd never make it to her in time. Even as he moved towards her the inches between them might as well been miles.

For her part Sakura was frozen in fear. She couldn't comprehend what was happening. Why had Mizuki-sensei…

And there her thoughts ended as a cold alien feeling spread over her. She was suddenly unable to move, to even cringe as the blade headed towards her. Time had already slowed down for her as fear had paralyzed her body. Now though something else took control of her limbs. Before she could even understand what was happening she felt her body lurch to the side, out of the path of the projectile which continued on past her, narrowly missing the shorter girl standing on the step below her. Suddenly the cold clammy feeling vanished, and her muscles were once again hers. Her inner voice cried out for vengeance for Mizuki-teme and whatever had dared take control of her body. If it was Ino she was gonna punch the blonde so heard. But Ino was still standing to her right, completely shocked. Puzzled Sakura remained sitting still staring in awe as she tried to process the events of the last few seconds.

The rest of the class hadn't remained quite so still. Shikamaru had regained his feet, quickly. The shadow bind technique he's used to save Sakura had required him to do the same movements that he was forcing upon her. So they'd both had to fall. But he couldn't afford to remain down. As troublesome as it was his classmates were confused and disoriented. If he didn't take charge Mizuki and whatever forces that had come with him would make quick work of the academy class.

Brushing himself off he calculated the quickest method of addressing the confusion on his classmates faces and forestalling an attack until they could collect themselves. It would take precious seconds that the Chunin was unlikely to grant them. If Shikamaru wanted time he'd have to earn every second of it. A plan quickly formulated.

"Mizuki, as a ninja of the Village hidden in the life I declare your life is forfeit for your crimes against the leaf. If you will not surrender your life I will be forced to take it."

As Shikamaru stood and declared their former teacher an enemy of the leaf and a traitor Ino felt her jaw drop. She wanted to be angry, but the truth was she was impressed. That was the most she'd heard Shikamaru say at one time in years. And even if it was said in the same lazy drawl he always used, the words themselves were strong. And she hadn't even call the situation troublesome.

"I don't know what you're talking about Shikamru. I'-"

"Enough of the charade, Mizuki. I'm getting bored waiting for you to get revenge already," Nukpana shouted, interrupting the lie the traitor was beginning to spin. A feral grin of delight light up the Scout's face as, Mizuki glared at him. Nukpana had been delighted when he'd received his instructions. Slaughtering children was the perfect end to a boring summer. It had been too long since he'd been let loose into the field. Anaba's squeamishness meant that he was often forced to wait for an enemy to violate the tribe's territory before he'd be allowed loose.

It had been years since he'd been allowed to walk into a school with his axes in hand. He longed to hear the delicious screams and sobs as his ripped into the flesh of these young fools who were arrogant enough to think themselves warriors. Today was going to be his lucky day.

His first two victims were two boys sitting in the front row. They weren't quick enough to avoid the axes he threw at them. The thick blades cut through their necks, resulting in a beautiful spray of arterial blood. With a quick hand seal and a pulse of chakra the two blades spun back, coming to a rest in his open hands.

With a bark he gave the only order his team needed to hear, and his three handpicked butchers removed the henges they'd been hiding behind. Many among his tribe viewed the ninja arts as a vulgar blasphemous expression of the true power of chakra. He was not one of them, whatever allowed him to kill more people was alright with him, whether it be ninjustu or calling.

He moved to join them when another brat stood before him. This one was shorter than the two he'd just killed. The brat had black hair and was trying to level a glare full of killing intent. Instead of achieving the desired effect Nukpana thought it just made the little boy look sullen. With a laugh he called out to the brave and foolish boy.

"Is there a name you'd like me to put on your gravestone?"

A dark look filled the boy's eyes.

"I won't be the one needing gravestone," was all he said before he brought his hands up to form a seal and began spitting balls of fire.

Fear crept its way into Naruto's heart. How could this be happening. They were supposed to be safe in the village. It was just his first day as a genin. What was he supposed to do. These monsters would kill him! They'd already killed two of his classmates. He'd never spoken with either of them, but their lifeless heads had landed inches from him and now they stared accusingly at him.

Above him a cry of Naruto-kun alerted him to Mizuki's attack. The cowardly traitor had chosen the moment of Naruto's distraction as a chance to end the genin's life.

Naruto managed to throw himself out of the way of the large shuriken that headed towards him. He even managed to push Sakura closer to the ground, shielding her from the oversized ninja star that Mizuki threw. He however was unable to do the same for the girl standing behind him, and the star bisected her before she could react. The star remained inside her, jutting obscenely from her stomach. Bile rose in his throat even as he heard Ino's voice tell him to move.

He couldn't go. If he did he'd leave Sakura-chan to the same fate the poor pigtailed girl behind him had suffered. So instead he crossed his arms in front of his face and screamed in pain as the smaller shurikens sunk into the meaty flesh of his forearms. The pain brought him back to his senses. He couldn't just remain standing there. If he did everyone was going to die. Sakura, Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji, and even that bastard Sasuke. And it would all be his fault. He didn't finish Mizuki when he'd had the chance. And it was him Mizuki was after. No! He wouldn't let anyone else die! He was going to end this!

Gritting his teeth he formed the seal for the only combat jutsu he knew, screaming its name out as he poured all the chakra he could summon into the jutsu he'd only recently learned.

Suddenly the room became much tighter.

The academy was not the only place under attack. The Anbu operation center, the staging center for on duty ninja, and the Hokage's office were all under attack as well. The assailants were strange creatures. They were shaped like men, and moved and acted like ninjas. However where flesh and blood should be there was only a shimmering body constructed of chakra. However, these strange clones were closer to the infamous shadow clone jutsu than the standard clone that most ninjas could create.

These creatures were armed and solid enough to tear into Konoha's defenders. They were not however indestructible. Like any other opponent they could be wounded and killed. But unlike a shadow clone this strange shimmering clones required more than a single hit to dispel. It took enough damage to kill a normal man before the creatures would break apart.

The arrival of the mysterious men could not have been at a worst time. A midday shift change had been occurring, and a large amount of the Anbu force was currently present in the main hall performing the various mundane duties that needed to be done before and after a shift. This was when the mysterious men had suddenly appeared in their midst, with reinforcements crashing through the windows. Several anbu fell to the initial strike, as they were caught unawares.

The more experienced and paranoid members, were alert despite being in a state of rest. These individuals, who made up the majority of the anbu forces, avoided the initial strikes of the spirit clones long enough to arm themselves and strike back.

The Anbu fought frantically and desperately. They were not fools and had quickly deduced that the attack had been made by a series of expendable troops with no ability to create jutsu of their own. The clone force was either a diversion for another attack or a means of weakening the defenders for a stronger wave to finish off. There was no way these creatures would be the death of them, but time was still running out.

Nearby Anko was having the time of her life. She'd just been returning from a boring surveillance mission. She'd spent hours scouting the forest of death with not so much as a peep from the creatures that lurked within. The first few days had been fraught with opportunities to test her self. But the creatures of the forest had soon learned to fear her. So she was stuck scouting the forest for the Chunin exams without anything interesting to keep her amused. It had been far too long of an assignment but she was finally done. Now she could go home and start devising ways to use the forest to make a truly devious test. If she couldn't get half of the teams that passed Ibiki's portion to fail she was going to consider it a personal failure. Mhm, half the teams, there was something in there. She just had to figure out what.

But now was not the time for that. Now was the time for fun. Around her were over a dozen glowing bastards. They seemed similar to shadow clones, she'd remembered seeing the Third Hokage use the technique once when she was young, during a pitched battle with the Rock.

Only these didn't look like any person. They were just faceless humans. And there didn't seem to be any actual ninja around, creating them or directing them. And there were a lot of them.

Which is what made it fun. They were decent fighter. But they were limited to basic taijutsu and whatever weapons they had on their persons. She wasn't. She danced through the tangle of opponents, throwing her arms out, channeling chakra into her infamously lethal techniques.

To her right another clone exploded into a cloud of dust as the snakes she'd projected from her sleeves tore out its throat. Two more rushed her. She dispatched them by shoving a kunai into each one's right eye socket. She unleashed more snakes with a roundhouse kick. The furious serpents, lashed out, still attached to her leg. The effect was similar to having an edged whip. Three more of the creations dissipated.

And she was just getting warmed up.

Back in the classroom Konoha's genin had collected in to get their team assignments Rozene was less than thrilled. Unlike the other members of her team, slaughtering a bunch of kids didn't really appeal to her. It wasn't that she really objected to the practice, she wouldn't have lasted long on Nukpana's squad if she did. No, she just didn't get the same level of joy out of slaughtering a room full of ill prepared ninja wannabees. It was bad enough these other hidden villages had forgotten the true strength of ninja without having to fight against their untrained recruits.

Still, at least she'd be responsible for ending the miserable life of the monstrosity that Konoha had created. Thanks to Mizuki, they even knew what child was the container. All they would have to do was smash him and the natural balance would be restored.

Unfortunately the other members of her squad were too busy slaughtering infidels to finish the mission. Which was the reason she'd been originally assigned to the squad. Someone had to keep their eye on the prize. And the rest of her team were useful for creating a large enough distraction that she was always able to complete the mission with relative ease. After all when, three jonin scouts were tearing into the citizens of a village, no one paid attention to a slim black haired woman demurely sneaking around. Especially when her village had a reputation for only having male scouts. Which was why she was so effective. No one expected her. Not to be a scout, not to be a member of Nukpana's vicious squad.

But now was not the time for this. Now was the time to focus, and kill the Uzumaki brat while there was sufficient chaos to mask her movements. It looked like Mizuki had gotten the brat riled up and use was about to use the some jutsu. He was screaming loudly and his hands were crossed. Not good. She would need to end this fast.

But first she needed to move past the genin in her way.

"Move aside fatty. I don't have time to deal with you."

Amidst the chaos of dozens of Shadow clones popping into existence there was a low pitched scream of rage. The sound was all too familiar to Shikamaru. In most circumstances he'd consider it troublesome. It meant that some foolish moron had once again insulted Choji's weight. The Ahkimichi would lose his temper there would be property damage, and Shikamaru would need to apologize and arrange payment.

But now, it meant that there would be one less enemy ninja to worry about. While Choji normally held back against members of the village, he doubted the boy would show the same restraint against an enemy. The crunch of breaking bones, including the distinctive snaps of a spinal cord and neck, followed by the shattering of one of the academies walls told him he was correct. Choji had used the meatball tank, and the enemy hadn't had the presence of mind to get out of the way.

From the sounds it sounded like Choji had come to a stop a few yards out side of the school, after toppling one of the larger trees there. From the sound of the impact Choji would be out of the fight for a little while. But Shikamaru had more immediate and troublesome concerns. Apparently the enemy had stationed reinforcements outside of the school. The hole Choji had treated was now clogged with faceless humans that were a solid yellow color. Most likely some form of clone Jutsu. He didn't know the technique so there was no way to predict its range or how long the clones would last. He doubted they were mere illusions. They seemed to be forming a cordon around the exit Choji created, so it was likely that they were covering the other exits as well. That meant the genins couldn't retreat. So they were trapped with three combat specialists from another village and a chunin who knew all of the genin's techniques and had taught them a large part of what they know. The situation wasn't looking good.

Since help hadn't already arrived he had to assume this was part of a massive attack, and that the villagers defenders were also under siege. They couldn't count on rescue and

And he already knew the capabilities of each of his classmates. None of them had the power to break through the chain of constructs. Of course he was about to be surprised. Seconds after Choji had broken through the academy wall, there was a loud pop and suddenly Shikamaru was surrounded by Narutos. Sighing loudly, Shikamaru suddenly understood just how Naruto had beaten Mizuki. This changed things.

Despite the rumors Shikamaru had underestimated the volume of clones Naruto could create. It was trouble some that the boy was able to create so many viable clones after only learning the jutsu a few days ago. The few Jonins we knew the technique were often able to create only a few autonomous clones.

While the Naruto clones in front of and to the side of Shikamaru were swarming both Mizuki and the enemy ninja that till now he and Ino had been barely holding off, Shikamaru began to formulate a plan. He estimated that based on their displayed capabilities the enemy ninja, a tall lanky man who was using a pair of knives for close quarter combat and who wasn't wearing anything to identify what village he was a part of, would destroy the clones assaulting him in less than thirty seconds. Mizuki would probably need at least a minute, if not longer. That meant that Shikamaru only had a few seconds to initiate his plan.

"Naruto! We need more room if we're going to beat them. Clear an exit through the hole Choji made."

"You idiot, Naruto won't be able to

He was only half surprised when some of Naruto's clones sprinted away towards the exit. He hadn't

Naruto smirked as his clones dog piled the traitorous instructor. Mizuki was no match for the future Fifth Hokage! His clones would teach the traitor the error of his ways. His smirk vanished when an explosion dispersed the clones on top of Mizuki and memories of Mizuki disappearing leaving behind a log with an explosive tag, and the horrible pain of being burned alive filled his mind.

He shook off the disturbing memories. A real shinobi wasn't distracted by pain. Instead he focused on the traitor who dared to mock him still. Mizuki stood upon one of the tables the students were supposed to write upon. Leaping up Naruto launched himself at the smirking fool.

Naruto drove forward with a punishing over handed punch, to the top of Mizuki's head, only to miss entirely when the chunin leapt away to anther set of desks. Off balance Naruto was unable to act when Mizuki leapt off the new perch to launch a leaping kick. Naruto's head snapped to the side, and blood flew from his now split lip. He collapsed off the desk falling on the wooden bench the students were meant to sit upon.

Naruto's story would have ended there, with a kunai jutting from his forehead, if Kiba hadn't catapulted past him, kunai in hand. The feral shinobi lashed out with his knife, deflecting the one that Mizuki had hurled at the loud mouth. The other piece of metal ricocheted into a desk, impaling itself with a satisfying thunk.

Kiba dove forward, trying to impale Mizuki and end the fight. The older ninja laughed as he leaned away from the enthusiastic strike and took advantage of Kiba's overextension with a brutal kick to the head. Kiba fell back, and it was his turn to be saved as a kunai rushed towards him. Unfortunately Naruto was still recovering and unable to react quickly enough. A nearby kage-bushin disappeared in a puff of smoke from a swift kick by Mizuki, which prevented it from aiding the

With the thrown Kunai approaching his left eye Kiba could only watch helplessly. His throat tightened, only to relax when other Kunai crashed into the one headed for him, altering its course just enough so that it only grazed his temple as it flew past.

Two more Kunai flew out from Sakura's hands towards her former instructor. She'd show him for tricking her! Who the hell did he think he was? He couldn't treat her like that! She's show him that she was a great Ninja!

She smirked as her plan worked. Mizuki had underestimated her, choosing to parry both of her attacks. But he hadn't realized she'd aimed them just perfectly. When he deflected the first there was not enough time to make it back to parry the second. If he hadn't jerked away at the last second she'd have slit his throat and the fight would be over for him. Instead his instinctive reaction meant that she'd merely left a superficial cut along the side of his neck. She attempted to follow up with another two shuriken when she was knocked out of the air. Looking up she realized Ino had tackled her. She was about to scream at her former friend, when she noticed the large man standing over them both.

He was easily six feet tall and was wielding some strange kind of double edged spear. Had she remained where she was seconds before he'd have impaled her. Ino's intervention had bought her seconds. But the man had recovered faster than either of the girls and was about to bring his spear down, and impale them both. Sakura couldn't believe it was going to end like this.

Above her Hinata landed on the desk behind Sakura and Ino's assailant. She was furious with herself. She was too weak, too hesitant. She had seen Mizuki-sensei's shuriken but hadn't been able to warn Sakura. She should have noticed the enemy ninja hiding in the room with her Bakugen. But she was too weak! And now her classmates were dead. She'd even allowed the opponent she'd chosen to knock her aside and now her classmates were about to pay for her mistake.

She wouldn't let that happen.

She wasn't a master of the gentle fist style. Her strikes were not accurate enough to reliably shut of specific tentsuku. But even she could strike a heart. Cringing and pushing as my chakra into her hands as possible Hinata lashed out, slipping past the distracted giant's guard. Her hand crashed into his chest, perfectly targeting his heart. Only for him to give a grunt and remain alive. She couldn't believe it! Was she really that much of a failure? For any other Hyuga the attack should have shredded the victims heart and killed him instantly. But her father was right, she was not fit to serve Konoha in any capacity, let alone as a ninja.

For his part Bizdil was confused. He hadn't bothered to block the small girl's strike. None could hurt him. He had long ago mastered the flow of chakra inside his body and could use it to strengthen his body to the toughness of steel. Even the sharpest kunai could not penetrate his flesh. And the chakra lining he projected around himself would break the hands of any that struck him. But this little girl's hand had not broken, and stranger still he felt the blow. And it hurt.

Snarling he broke off his attack on the hapless kuniochi under him to strike the one who dared harm him. But she ducked under his initial blow, and the leapt over the follow up. Strike after strike she managed to avoid him, even when there was no way she should have been able to see the attack coming. And always, whenever she could she would land small stinging blows. It was infuriating.

Hinata couldn't quite understand why her opponent had become obsessed with her. He was focusing solely on her, ignoring all other attacks. He didn't even flinch when Sakura's and Ino's kunai bounced off his flesh. He must have been using some jutsu to strengthen his flesh. She was such a fool for not noticing. But it was good that he was solely focused on her. It gave her a chance to redeem herself.

Resolving to do just that she worked on leading him away from the others, perhaps buying them enough chance to escape if she failed again.

Meanwhile too much time had past, and Naruto's clones had failed to clear an exit. The thin warrior Shikamaru had been fighting had torn through Naruto's clones, and even though the extras that had dog piled on him after the first batch had been dispersed. Currently Shikamaru was wracking his brain for ways to buy even a few more seconds of time before his enemy's knife ripped through his throat.

"Naruto, the exit!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

From behind him he could hear Kiba's struggled response as that boy fought against Mizuki.

"I told you the idiot couldn't do it!"

With a sneer Mizuki added his two cents in.

"Hear that Naruto-kun? You're not enough of a ninja to save these people. Seems like I was right after all, you're nothing but a scrawny little monster," Mizuki gave a deep sadistic, laugh as he broke through Kiba's guard, driving a kunai deep into the boy's leg before yanking it back out. A quick side kick sent the injured genin flying away, leaving Mizuki alone with his target.

"Now I'm going to kill you. Looks like you weren't that strong after all. Certainly not strong enough to be Hokage." As Miuzuki made each statement he punctuated it with a devastating unarmed blow. By the end of the speech Naruto was bruised and exhausted. "You should thank me for ending your pathetic dream here, before you wasted years on it. You could never defend an entire village. You can't even save your worthless friends."

With the last barb and uppercut Naruto sunk to his knees, tears streaming from his face. Mizuki stepped back to admire his handiwork, before palming the final kunai that would end the miserable brat's life once and for all.

Across the room, Nukpana's breath caught in his throat. It was about to happen. The vessel would die and the Kyubbi would be released. His mission would be accomplished, balance would be restored, and more importantly the entire village would die in a swirl of magnificent destruction. He savored the moment, barely paying attention to the week genin who attacked him time and again.

The little fool was persistent, and vicious. Several times the brat had avoided killing blows in such a way that they instead struck his classmates. Nukpana had to admit it was an effective if vicious strategy. His favorite kind. The penetration of the access into the bodies of the brat's classmates slowed their return time be a few seconds, and also meant that the axes wouldn't bisect the brat on the return flight. When no classmates were behind him the boy was using wooden desks and seats, which also worked. Each time the boy would attempt to use those few extra moments to his advantage and score a fatal blow. Each time he never came close. The only thing he accomplished was to slightly impress his opponent with his drive and viciousness.

Both Nukpana and Mizuki's gloating was brought to a halt by Konoha's number one most surprising ninja. The young boy stood proudly, despite being bloody and bruised. The tears in his eyes had dried and he stood clutching his head band in his hand.

"You're wrong Mizuki! I'm not gonna die here! I'm going to be the next Hokage, and I'm not going to let anymore people die! I'm going to protect them all!"

"So you've said brat. So it looks like you're a liar as well as a loser. I'll enjoy making you take back those words"

"No! I will not take back my words that is my ninja way! I will defeat you and defend the village."

The rogue chunin couldn't believe his ears. The boy was insane. "You and what army? In case you're too dumb to notice, you're out numbered," he gestured to the spirit clones outside "outmatched," he gestured to the ninja inside and the damage the five of them had wrought upon the classroom, " and no help is coming. Face it, it's hopeless."

"Nothing's hopeless!" the boy screamed, crossing his hands and pulling forth all of his chakra.

Suddenly all sound rushed from the room, as the air pressure dramatically lowered. An instant later the pressure resurged as did a tremendous pop that echoed throughout not only the schoolhouse but the entire village. A sweating panting Naruto stood among a large force of clones, thrust into what ever available space they could find in the small room.

"This is your army boy? More useless clones?"

A chorus of hundred of, "Believe its" was Mizuki's only response. The shouts were in perfect harmony and spoken with the exact same voice. The mere volume surprised all the combatants and forced them to look for the origin of the noise. The few dozen clones in the room should not have been able to create such a noise.

And then a look of shock stole across Shikamaru's face. From his position pinned to a table, with his head turned as far as possible to the side to put as much distance between the kunai his opponent held and his neck, Shikamaru could see outside the window. As far as he could see into the horizon the ground was covered with Narutos. The shadow clones surged forward crashing against the strange enemy clones. Windows shattered as various clones were knocked through them. The cordon around the schoolhouse was broken, and more importantly the enemy with a knife at his throat distracted. Shikamaru seized on his enemy's failing and brought his knee up into his opponent's groin. When the ninja's body instinctually tensed up, Shikamaru used the movements of his opponents muscles to push the kunai down and away, into the table. Before his opponent could recover two Naruto clones grabbed him, and held him still for Shikamaru. A quick motion freed a kunai from his leg holster, and an even quicker one ended the invader's life. It was troublesome but it had to be done.

Meanwhile the army of Naruto's had created enough space that a few of them could begin escorting the other genin's out. A few of the students looked reluctant to leave their classmates behind, but Shikamaru's orders to regroup outside where their numbers wouldn't work as much against them convinced the stragglers.

For the first time that entire day Shikamaru let himself begin to hope. In the open air, the young genin could actually evade the attacks of their opponents and use their superior numbers to whittle down their opponents, instead of getting in each others way. And the shadow clones seemed to be keeping the strange enemy clones in check. They might just survive this.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's notes: Chapter two. So I'm afraid the story's still a little chaotic but the massive fight is almost over so hopefully I'll be able to make things more clear as the dust settles. I hope you enjoy this and would love to hear any feedback positive or negative.

Disclaimer. I don't own the characters or world. Someone else does. I'm just writing this as a parody for fun and practice. I'm not making any money and I hope it's enjoyed.

Chapter 2

Anaba was becoming disturbed. He had remained back to defend the painted ones during the ritual calling. With the Caller present it was a necessity. Despite the out of the way placement, Anaba could not risk leaving the Caller poorly defended. At the same time the plan only allowed for a few defenders per squad of painted. So Anaba and his personal squad had remained behind. So far the extra precaution had been, not a waste, but had not been used.

At first he hadn't been too worried. Nukpana was a vicious bloodthirsty bastard, and he was also a raider, the elite among the scouts. It was true that Nukpana's Bloody Rebels were in the kindest sense eccentric when it came to completing their missions. The last time he'd sent the group to a heavily guarded castle to steal a vital piece of intelligence, Nukpana had left the entirety of the actual infiltration and theft to Rozene, and had taken Bizdil and Heskovizenako for a direct assault on the main gates of the keep. Apparently the enemy had assumed that the main purpose of the mission was to thin their numbers, rather than that being a side effect of Nukpana having a good time. They'd not even checked for missing Intel.

For a straightforward mission like this one, Nukpana was perfect. The only worry about Nukpana's performance on the mission was that he'd get carried away and butcher the entire school. So Anaba had waited patiently, taking into account the amount of time it would take to crush an entire school house filled with sub-par ninjas. For specialists like the Bloody rebels the class of genins should have been no problem. Even if Nukpana had taken his time and slaughtered everyone else in the class room, or even the school, Rozene should have finished off the boy already. Which meant the Kyubbi should be free.

The cycle would be normalized, and with any luck the blasphemous arrogant shinobi of the leaf would be eradicated as was only right. Binding one of the incarnations of the elemental forces of creation. And worse yet their arrogance set the way for others. But there was another squad on the way to the village hidden in the sand to rectify the situation there. Anaba was confident that the other team would easily accomplish their mission. The Tanki was only a minor elemental, a spirit unrelated to the grand balance. They should have no problem slaying the host.

But there had been no explosion, no emergence of the avatar. Nothing at all. There had not even been the signal he'd instructed Rozene to give once the mission was accomplished.

His patience was wearing thin. A heavy sheen of sweat had begun to form on the younger painted. The strain of maintaining the spirit clones was obviously taking its toll. It wouldn't be too long before the younger painted failed and their clones dissipated. That would seriously diminish their forces. Which would mean that the older painted would need to use more chakra to keep the enemy distracted. Which would tire them out faster. The whole mission could become compromised.

Shikamaru had been partially right, the open air had partially changed the battle. While a few of his classmates had proved themselves cowards and fled, most of them had proven themselves true ninja of the leaf and, under his orders, had focused on aiding the chunin instructors in collecting the younger students and escorting them to the panic rooms hidden throughout the city in case of exactly the circumstances they found themselves currently in. The genin's intervention allowed the Chunin instructors to move the students with greater speed and safety. It also allowed a few instructors to intervene in the battle, stopping several of the spirit clones from killing more academy students.

* * *

Meanwhile back in the classroom a pitched battle was still underway. Kiba had been taken out of the equation. The wound Mizuki had inflicted on his leg was bleeding profusely. He gritted his teeth, as Sakura put as much pressure on the strips of cloth she'd torn lose from her clothes. The makeshift bandages were doing a fair amount to steam the bleeding, but she knew even with the first aid she'd provided Kiba would bleed out soon without real medical attention. Which wouldn't be an issue if they both got killed before then.

They were currently immensely vulnerable. They were stuck in the middle isle where the stairs were, with only Ino and Akimaru for protection. Every time the two girls had tried to move Kiba an attack prevented them from doing so. Their assailants seemed to be taking a perverse pleasure in forcing them to remain exposed and helpless while Kiba's life bled away.

Worse yet it didn't seem that help would be coming soon enough. Shino and Hinata had their hands busy with the gigantic ninja who seemed to feel no pain. Naruto and his clones were barely keeping Mizuki back, and Sakura suspected the chunin was playing with Naruto, allowing the boy think he had a chance. Sasuke was still fighting the same ninja, and was making no more progress than before. Shikamaru was outside, directing Naruto's other clones and the other students in clearing out the school and keeping their path of retreat open. And Choji was still out cold.

* * *

Above them Hinata was having trouble. Her opponent, a huge man wielding a spear with a sharp blade on each end, seemed to barely notice each essence fueled strike she landed. Nor did he seem to be tiring. He struck out at her again and again, with the same speed and strength fueling each blow. Ever since she'd struck him, he'd become obsessed with her, targeting her to the exclusion of all else. The never ending assault was beginning to take its toll on her.

While he seemed more than capable of keeping up the assault forever, Hinata found her strength was failing. At first she'd had no trouble avoiding the powerful strikes of her opponent. The long weapon had strength behind it and greater reach than her hands, but the strikes where still slow for the rapid paced combat of the ninja. Thanks to the hours she had spent training with her family she was used to much more rapid strikes.

However her stamina was only human, and her opponent's was something else. A layer of sweat clogged her skin and soaked into her clothes. Her dodges were slowing and twice the massive spear had cut into the cloth of her clothing. Long narrow scratches bled where the spear had torn her skin.

Her own counterattacks were becoming sloppier. Twice she had missed his heart, and struck various parts of his chest instead. She was all too aware that soon she would be too slow and her worthless life would end. She chided herself for her weakness. She was Hyuga, one of the elite clans of the village. At least this way her sister would never be forced to join the branch family.

Behind his raised collar Shino smirked as Hinata avoided yet another tremendous blow. It was possible that his reaction was premature. His father would be disappointed to learn of this premature reaction. After all a fight between shinobi was not resolved until one of the combatants was dead.

Still Shino was pleased with himself. He had remained on the outskirts of the fight, under the notice of the enemy ninja. He'd allowed his classmates to act as diversions, drawing the attention of the enemy, interjecting himself into the fray only when necessary to give his classmates a second of respite. He'd used Kunai to slow and alter a few attacks, but had managed to appear mostly useless.

It seemed that the enemy had forgotten the number one rule of the shinobi: the unseen is the most deadly. Shino remained back not out of a sense of cowardice, but to observe his opponents and derive a strategy for how to defeat them.

Unlike Shikamaru, Shino had not analyzed the entirety of the situation at hand. Instead the bug user's focus was solely on the enemy force present and their combat capabilities. Hinata's foe worried him the most. The giant seemed to be using chakra to strengthen his body, rendering him immune to most attacks. Kunai and shuriken had so far proven useless. Worse the giant seemed not to tire. And even the dreaded Hyuga gentle fist style barely provoked any reaction. Normally he might write that up to a failing on Hinata's part, she was a young genin after all, but his kiaki bugs reported that every strike she launched was powered by enough chakra to completely shred whatever organ it hit. He suspected that it was only that power that allowed the blows to even phase the enemy.

The enemy's reaction to the attack had been even more surprising. The giant had become fixated on Hinata, ignoring everything else in an effort to crush her. Her strikes were probably the first that had harmed the giant in a long while.

Shino had used the giant's preoccupation and Hinata's obvious abilities, to his advantage. All the while watching for signs that the girl was in trouble, Shino had commanded his bugs to attach to the mountain of a man. As Shino had predicted the mountain of the hadn't noticed the small bugs weight on his chakra enhanced skin. Since attaching his allies had been steadily sucking the chakra of the man.

Shino's connection to his allies allowed him to sense both their satiation and the remaining chakra levels of their pray. He'd had to replace the force attacking the giant three times, but finally the giant's chakra was almost depleted. Not that the giant had slowed any.

Unfortunately Hinata had. Her exhaustion had caught up with her and she'd slipped. The giant was bringing his spear down, ready to drive the point through the crown of her skull. There was nothing to it, Shino would have to intervene.

"With a burst of speed that would have surprised many of those who knew the sedentary ninja, he leaped in front of Hinata, kunai in hand. He quickly calculated the angle and descent and brought his twin blades up to intercept the shaft, absorbing the downward momentum.

His muscles screamed and his teeth ground together under the strain of holding back the tremendous pressure the giant was exerting. Sweat gathered on his brow and his muscles burned. The point drifted inexorably downward as the giant smirked. And then, when it seemed Shino and Hinata would share the fate of far too many of their classmates, Shino's bugs came swarming back to him their mission a success. The giant faltered, stumbling back, his chakra drained.

"Hinata, the heart," where the only words Shino managed to push past his grinding teeth.

He needn't have bothered. The girl had already risen from her prone position and despite the exhaustion plaguing her had summoned her remaining chakra into her palms for one final strike. Her hands pushed against the man's chest, the chakra in them burrowing deep under the skin. It crashed and tore at the fibers of his heart shredding against it. Without the protective shield of chakra the giant had previously been maintaining around himself, there was no resistance, no defense. Her chakra ripped and tore until the heart was little more than shreds.

Suddenly the pressure against Shino's weapons disappeared as the giant's muscles ceased to push and he began to fall. Snatching the exhausted girl Shino leaped from the path of the falling body and sprinted his way towards one of the shattered windows. Hinata had obviously spent most of her chakra reserves and his kiaki bugs at gorged himself to the point of uselessness. They would only be a burden on their classmates at the moment, weaknesses for the enemy to exploit.

Once he had gotten Hinata somewhere safe, he would return and help Ino and Sakura move Kiba. He only hoped that the others could hold out until then.

* * *

Sasuke was becoming increasingly frustrated. This wasn't happening! He was the last remaining Uchica, the sworn avenger of the entire clan. He had dedicated his entire life to that goal, spending his time studying the techniques of his clan. He had already master the phoenix fire jutsu, one considered to be far too advanced for a mere genin. His accuracy with the technique was unrivaled. The notes he'd found detailing his brother's capabilities at his age indicated that not even that legendary monster had managed to be quite so precise as his younger brother, nor have the stamina that Sasuke had developed at this age.

So why couldn't he hit the Nukpana? The enemy ninja had taken great glee informing Sasuke just who would be killing him. His ire over the arrogance of the declaration, had caused Sasuke to freeze up, almost allowing one of Nukpana's spinning axes to bisect him. He'd managed to jump aside at the last second. The weakling behind him hadn't been so lucky.

The unfortunate fate of that student had prompted Nukpana to begin another series of verbal assaults against Sasuke. This time the enemy hurled questions about how cruel Sasuke must be to allow his fellow students to die, just to save his own skin. The thought once again frustrated Sasuke. The life of a ninja was no place for a weakling. If they could not survive on their own they had no right to be here.

Sasuke's ire had grown with each taunt. As had his focus. He wasn't going to fail. He was the strongest genin! He knew the strongest techniques. He wouldn't lose!.

His internal rant had been stopped and his delusions shattered by an event even his hyper focus could not prevent him from noticing. Suddenly, where there had been the noises of battle, there was only silence. A silence filled by a roar that made him clutch his ears. As hundreds of Naruto's roared into existence. The previous sound was then blotted out by hundred's of Naruto's crying out in unison.

Then all hell broke loose as the Naruto's attacked.

To his shame the idiot's clones managed to do more to his opponent in a few seconds than he'd managed to do the entire battle. He'd never thought it possible for Naruto to perform such a strong technique let alone control it. The weakling was making a mockery of him! For the first time since the ambush had begun, Nukpana had been struck. It hadn't been by Sasuke's hand. Despite all the hours the boy had spent training he hadn't been able to land a single strike with fist, jutsu or weapon. And the dead last of the class had mastered a technique Sasuke had never heard of before, and managed to use it to successfully strike a blow where he couldn't.

The clones hadn't been able to do much more than that though. Nukpana had continued ducking, weaving and attacking despite their numbers. Only now the enemy was forced to change his attention from taunting Sasuke to destroying the clones. The enemy moved in a ballet of furious motion, far faster than before. Every movement was perfectly planned. Each gesture, motion, and movement was an attack or dodge. Soon all of the clones assaulting Nukpana were dispersed into a mist of smoke. For the first time all day Nukpana was forced to be serious. Meanwhile the attacks that Sasuke launched were heartily ignored.

The change in the enemy's attitude did not go unnoticed by Sasuke. His fingernails dug deep into his palms as his anger grew. How could this be! The dead last fool was the one that forced Nukpana to become serious. And he, the last member of the greatest clan in the village was ignored! No! Sasuke new this had to be a mistake.

He was strong. The strongest in his class. He would be the strongest one of all, "the avenger of the Uchica!" The words had left his throat as a scream before he'd realized he vocalized them.

A smirk had appeared upon Nukpana's face, as the twin axes he wielded slapped back into his palms, returning after slaying another two clones.

"Avenger huh? Well you're certainly not cut out to be a defender. Do you know how many times you've fled me axes, to leave one of your friends to pay the price? I do. I'll admit it was a brilliant piece of strategy. Their flesh and bones slowed my babies' return just enough to allow you to flee and sneak in a strike. If you were stronger it might have even worked. But you're weak. Too weak to avenge anyone. I'm afraid I'll have to leave your cooling corpse behind."

* * *

Across the room the real Naruto Uzumaki was having problems of his own. With Kiba injured he was once again on his own against Mizuki. Granted there had been a lot of him at the time that Kiba had become injured.

At least forty clones had been attempting to beat Mizuki into a pulp just like the first time they'd fought. This time however the technique hadn't worked that well. In truth Naruto was receiving an impromptu lesson in tactics. Mizuki had not been appointed a teacher because he lacked skills. Rather, his knowledge of the application of ninja techniques was incredibly thorough.

During his rather lengthy time in the Academy Naruto had often wondered why they had needed to learn such basic and seemingly useless moves. While he'd stared off into space, he'd often wondered what was so great about being able to move three inches to the side, or why he'd ever need to be able use chakra to move a log without ever touching it.

The third time one of his clones had driven a Kunai into Mizuki's chest only to have a burst of smoke reveal the knife buried to the hilt in a log or book, Naruto was ready to admit maybe Iruka-sensei had been right in insisting he pay attention.

The fight only got worse when Mizuki had run out of logs stored wherever the instructors got them from. Then the traitor had started using the clones instead. With each narrow escape Mizuki eliminated one of Naruto's clones, and flooded Naruto's mind with the clone's memories. The distractions were short, but with the sheer rate of destruction of his clones, both the ones in the classroom and the ones fighting outside, Naruto found himself paralyzed by a flood of memories he'd never had.

Hundreds of different deaths became a part of his experience. In only a handful of seconds he'd experienced over fifty different mortal blows. Each was slightly different and each inscribed in his memory with a needle of fire. He could feel axes chopping through his neck, knives cutting through his groin. The jarring impact of hard punches and kicks rounded out the concerto of pain.

And those were surprisingly not the most distracting memories. He'd lived with pain all his life. The pain of abandonment, of a never-ending aching loneliness, had been his for his entire life. The pain of icy stares and dismissal had been a constant for as long as he could remember. He'd been struck before and he'd hit trees until his knuckles bled. It was true that what his clones were going through were new experiences, but Naruto found that pain was pain. He'd learned to focus past that.

No the torrent of experiences and knowledge the clones had gathered was what really shocked him. In the span of seconds: he'd pinned someone while they were killed, he'd failed to protect yet another student; he'd saved four more students; he'd failed to block an axe; he'd blocked the axe but forgot to watch for a knife; he'd blocked the axe, but the weight of the opponent hand pressed the weapon down until it had cut into the clone and dispersed it.

In the span of seconds he was receiving months worth of real battle experience. Despite the massive input of data he found himself remembering and logging each clones experiences. Unfortunately he wasn't able to focus on anything else. He remained still amongst the rapidly moving clones.

* * *

Mizuki did not miss Naruto's dilemma. An icy smirk formed upon the traitor's face. So the dreaded Kage Bushin did have a weakness.

He'd heard of the invincible techniques of the Hokages, the ability to create an unlimited supply of soldiers. He'd assumed some of it was just exaggeration, after all the technique as only known by a select few and they used it so rarely it was only natural for a mythos to surround it. Still he'd wanted the power it, and the other Jutsus in the forbidden scroll, promised.

When the failure, Uzumaki used the technique to overwhelm him Mizuki knew that he'd been right to seek the power of the scroll. He knew the deals he'd made would be worth it. And now all that was left was to kill the brat and then his new allies would deliver him the scroll, and asylum from the weak fools of the leaf.

Although he'd been surprised by the tenacity and abilities of his students in the end they were still just children. One by one they had collapsed due to fatigue and wounds. Of those that were left only two were still in the fight.

One of those was Uzumaki. The brat was putting up a fight, but Mizuki was ready for the brat's only technique this time. The last time they'd fought he'd been surprised by the sheer power of the technique. Now however that he'd seen it he was ready. The boy certainly had the ability to reinforce himself, but numbers weren't everything.

Not when with a minimal use of chakra you could vanish before a blow landed. Not when you could switch your position with another clone. It was true that the substitution jutsu couldn't be used to replace oneself with another living being, but the shadow clones weren't living. They were an imitation of life, true, but that's all they were.

Further the clones were sloppy and it only took a single solid hit to dispel them. That was probably just the boy though. Mizuki doubted the brat had the power to master the full power of the technique. That was why the clones were sloppy and easily destroyed.

In the end the boy was simply a novice with a access to a strong technique. It was wasted on him. He couldn't access its full power, and the small uses he could make were more flash than substance. It wouldn't be long before Mizuki was able to destroy the last of the clones. The boy would be next.

And now that he'd found such a significant weakness he didn't need to wait until the last clone vanished in a puff of smoke. All he had to do was focus his attacks on the single still Naruto.

* * *

A new memory filled Naruto's mind. A clone shoving another clone aside, out of the path of a shuriken. A dull ache in his actual arm forced him to reevaluate the memory. The clone had shoved his real body aside! Another two clones, 'died' preventing more shurkien from ending his life. Mizuki was targeting him! But how did the bastard… a sudden realization hit Naruto. He was standing still. The influx of memories had distracted him, not only making him an easy target but also alerting Mizuki to which Naruto was real!

That wasn't good. What was worse was that the memories of the bushin Mizuki had already destroyed had alerted Naruto to the fact that the boy couldn't win this fight. Not if things continued as they were. It had taken Naruto too long to figure out exactly what was difference, but among the pieces of memory the clones had imparted to him he'd found his answer.

The last time he'd fought Mizuki must have been the first time the traitor had seen the technique. He'd had no defense for it. But now the bastard had had time to prepare, to plan. The classroom was a brilliant place to attack, if Naruto had to be honest about it. In the confined space his Kage bushin were worse than useless. All Mizuki had to do was step on a desk, or off one, and his bushin would be getting in each other's way to reach him. Further the uneven terrain and narrow spaces the valleys between the desks and chairs limited the amount of clones that could attack Mizuki at any one time to a number the bastard could manage.

Well Naruto wasn't going to let that stop him! He was the ultimate prankster. He was the one person who'd not only managed to deface the Hokage's monument but had avoided the city's entire jonin and anbu population for over thirty minutes before Iruka sensei had caught him. That had to be a record! And he'd be damned if some traitor managed to out think him. But he had to come up with some amazing trick, something to stop the Chunin cold.

He just had to treat this like any other prank. His clone defenders would buy him a little time as he thought. He just had to focus past the memories of those that were being destroyed.

So the first step of pranking was have an objective. He needed to take out Mizuki. To do that he had to do what? He had to get close. It couldn't just be a bushin. Mizuki was too fast, the traitor would definitely be able to land a punch and dispel a clone. But if the bastard figured out it was the real one, he'd use a kunai instead of a punch.

So he'd have to get close and make Mizuki think he was just another clone. And Mizuki thought he'd figured out a way to track the real him. But Naruto had figured out the trick, so that meant he could use that too. So he needed to address the substitution jutsu Mizuki seemed to using. It seemed to move Mizuki out of the way, and leave something behind in his place. But it still needed hand seals, and would it even work if the person was unable to move? There was only one way to find out.

He'd just have to risk the crazy plan that had popped into his head.

* * *

Kiba was worried. His leg hurt and he was starting to get woozy. Kneeling above him Sakura was doing everything she could to stop him from bleeding out. It wasn't going to be enough. Even Akimaru could tell. The small dog was whining pitiably by his side now. Ino was now their only defense.

It was insane. The two girls weren't going to be enough to stop anything that broke through the line. All bluster aside none of them would. The few they'd taken out had been luck and superior numbers. Probably a little overconfidence on the side of the enemy forces too. That was gone now. The two left were deadly serious and most of the students had fled or were out of the equation.

He didn't want to die. But he was going to. The only question at this point was how. The enemy wasn't just going to let Sakura and Ino drag him out. Both of them had made that clear, attacking only when they moved. It would take both girls to drag him out, which left no one to defend them. But if both girls made a run for it they could defend each other and maybe make it out. Without Sakura he'd bleed to death faster, but it only meant he wouldn't be around to watch Mizuki kill Naruto, Sakura and Ino.

No There was no sense in all three dying. If the girls ran maybe they could get far enough away. Some chance was better than none.

"Get out of here," the pain and lightheadedness combined to make his voice quiet. He tried to push Sakura away to make sure she got the message.

"We're not leaving you to die idiot!" the pink haired girl screamed at him, in response to his troubles.

"Dead anyway. No sense in you dying too."

"Stop being a drama king," the blonde sneered at him, as she deflected one of Mizuki's shurkien that had missed one of Naruto's clones.

"Please just take Akimaru and run."

This time the dog made its objections known. It ceased its whining and lightly bit him to make it clear it was going nowhere. Despite the chaos around him Sakura was forced to laugh at the little dog's antics.

"Stop talking idiot. We're not going anywhere."

Kiba just shook his head and resigned himself to watching the battles around him. At least that idiot Naruto was doing better than Kiba'd expected. Maybe there was some hope.

* * *

For her part Ino didn't even have Kiba's cautious enthusiasm. Unlike the boy she had never been a part of Naruto's gang when they were younger. She'd never been allowed to join in on the pranks, because Shikamaru was sure she had cooties. Which was fine with her, back then she'd rather spend her time with her quiet pink haired friend. The same one who years later had declared.. no it wasn't time to think about that.

But she'd never seen the pranks Naruto had helped come up with and implement. She'd never seen the bouts of unfocused brilliance the boy was capable of. She'd only known him from her time in his class at the academy. Where the other boys had eventually grown up and focused on becoming true ninja, Naruto never had.

His antics time and again would result in punishments for the rest of them. She hadn't been too thrilled about that. Worse it was painfully obvious that the reason he screwed around was because he didn't have the ability to actually do the work. She wasn't even sure how he'd come to be here today. Not that it wasn't a good thing he was. She wasn't blind or stupid. It was pretty obvious that the whole reason they were still alive was that Naruto was in the classroom. She didn't know how he was doing it but he'd created solid clones to fight for him. She didn't even know that was possible! But in the end she wasn't sure that would matter.

Sure he apparently had mastered some very powerful Jutsu, but he was still just a new genin! Her father never talked much about his work as a Jonin ninja, but she'd been able to see him train a few times. He's even taken her to see some friends of his have a friendly spar. She was no expert but she could do a fair job of identifying what rank a ninja would be based on their movements. Mizuki was a high level chunin, but the others had moved with a surety and grace that she'd seen her father and his friends use. Ino had no illusions about why the battle had resulted in three enemy deaths. The fools had been cocky, had assumed because they were stronger victory was assured. The one Choji killed had ignored him until it was too late to avoid the meatball tank. The one Shikamaru had defeated had been playing with him and her, drawing out the pleasure of their impending deaths. The man had waited too long and Naruto's clones had surprised him. The large one Hinata had fought had put too much faith into his invulnerability.

But despite those mistakes they had taken a large toll on the Genins. A large part of the class was dead or dying, though Shikamaru had managed to evacuate most of the wounded. Hinata had used up all of her Chakra, and it seemed Shino had too. Kiba was bleeding to death on the floor below them. Sakura was tied up trying to keep the boy alive. For her part Ino knew she and Shikamaru were covered in dozens of scratches from where their opponent had nicked their skin. Worse, her muscles were beginning to ache up.

As for Naruto, their only hope against Mizuki. Well he had put up a good fight, but it was obvious his strength must be failing. He'd made more clones than she could count, but he hadn't used a single jutsu since the last batch. Which meant he must be out of chakra. And the clones were being destroyed at an accelerated rate. Further Mizuki had figured out a weakness. It seemed the clones were linked to Naruto. The boy was prostrate on the ground, clutching his head. So far some of the clones had taken position around their master to protect him, but Mizuki was making there way through them.

There were only four clones left fighting Mizuki. A quick side kick dispatched the first one. The other three tried to counter attack, but Mizuki jumped back avoiding the three blows. From his position of safety he threw two kunai each one heading towards a clone and then launched himself towards the third. The clones had nowhere to move. If they dodged the blades would hit the prostrate Naruto. Cursing to herself Ino watched Mizuki destroy the last three.

The traitor stalked to Naruto. There was nothing to it. Ino couldn't leave the boy to die. She tried to rush forward, to come to his aid, but a weak hand around her ankle stopped her.

"He's got a plan" Kiba whispered out before his hand fell limp to the ground. "He always has a plan."

The boy wasn't making sense and Ino wasn't just going to let Mizuki kill someone. She threw out a kunai to try and buy sometime. Hopefully she could distract Mizuki enough to make it to him before he could kill Naruto.

Unfortunately the older ninja had been ready for interference and knocked the weapon out of the way. Cursing Ino scooped up a kunai resting on the ground in front of her and hurled it with all her might. The dagger almost made it to Mizuki before it exploded with a pop.

Ino froze in her steps unable to believe what she was seeing. Where there had been a kunai flying towards Mizuki now there was a Naruto screaming at the top of his lungs. What on earth had just happened?

The clone smirked as Mizuki's blade tore through its throat. It erupted into a cloud of smoke and the single had been given. Suddenly several of the corpses around Mizuki's feet moved. The first two grabbed his legs, a third leaped onto his back.

Swearing as loudly as he could he shook his body flinging himself to try and shake off the brats. Suddenly the genjutsus gave way what he thought were corpses of students were shadow clones. Cursing to himself he went to make the seals for a Justus to free himself when the prostrate Naruto leapt up slamming a kunai into his left hand. Screaming Mizuki struck with his good hand, dispelling the clone. With a muttered curse he moved his legs to the side, dispelling the clones holding them with an impact against the sides of the desk and seats respectively. With one last snarl Mizuki ripped the clone from his back and threw it to the ground under him, not waiting for it to explode. He was already looking for the real brat, where could he have—

Mizuki never managed to finish the thought. The clone he'd thrown down hadn't exploded. Instead it had regained its feet and leapt up, palming a kunai as it did. It had shoved the sharp piece of metal straight up into the Chunin's jaw and through his brain. Sighing Naruto let go of the knife and the corpse fell.

He'd done it! He wasn't sure if he should be excited or disgusted. He wasn't positive he'd be able to do it, to combine Kage Bushin with the transformations he used to pull off the Sexy no jutsu. He really hadn't been sure he could even use the technique to turn a clone into a kunai. But it had work. Amidst the confusion of dispelling clones Naruto had managed to summon a few more, transform them and himself and lay a trap. And it had worked.

His joy was short lived however. Across the room there was trouble.

* * *

Sasuke's fight was not going well. After giving his declaration a second ago, Nukpana struck. He threw both axes almost too fast to see. Sasuke leapt but one of the axes curved after him. The boy leapt as soon as he landed, and was rewarded with only a small gash instead of a fatal wound. The strike left his jump off balance and he landed in the middle isle, out in the open. Behind him he could here the sounds of breathing.

Other students. Crap. In front of him Nukpana had stepped forward, to the end of the stairs. The sadistic bastard just smirked.

"Well Sasuke-kun, it looks like you have a choice. Behind you is an injured classmate and several of your admirers. If you dodge I assure you my axes will kill them. So the choice is yours, your life or theirs."

As Nukpana fingered his axes and gloated Sasuke scowled. There wasn't enough time! He couldn't just leave them, but… But they were weak. Too weak. And he couldn't die here. No he had to avenge his family! He couldn't die here!

Snarling Sasuke leapt forward over the path of the axes, screaming he shoved one of his kunai straight towards Nukpana's chest. The blade sunk into the warrior's chest, right next to where the shoulder started. The sadist leaned forward and chuckled into the boy's ear.

"There you go. True strength isn't compassion."

With that the enemy fell to the ground. And brought his foot up into Sasuke's groin.

"It's viciousness. Nice try kid. But you've got some potential. If you were my student, I'm sure you'd one day be quite the avenger indeed. With a final laugh Nukpana stood, seemingly oblivious and ran from the classroom.

"It looks like my jobs done," he shouted as he passed the threshold. His axes remained where they were imbedded.

* * *

Seconds ago, when Nukpana had forced Sasuke to choose Sakura couldn't believe her eyes. Her hero, her love, had left her to die. Sasuke-kun had leapt hi, leaving her and Kiba to be killed by axes. Suddenly a force from the side bowled her over.

There was some weight on her and a solid thunk. She thought she'd seen a flash of orange. One of Naurto's clones! It had intercepted the attack. When the puff of smoke she expected never came, and the weight remained a sickening feeling formed in her gut. Her elation faded. A warm, wet, iron liquid dripped into her mouth. Blood.

It hadn't been a clone. It was the real Naruto!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Broken Bodies; Broken dreams

Nukpana was smiling. His shoulder ached and blood ran freely where the self-proclaimed Avenger had shoved a kunai into it. The blood ran down his arm and torso as he ran creating a neat little trail for the brat to follow.

It couldn't be any better if he'd planned it. Which he hadn't. He hadn't really expected the dark haired brat to be ruthless enough to leap aside and leave his comrades defenseless. At most he'd not have been shocked if the child turned out to be a coward and ducked or jumped to the side. After all these weren't true ninjas.

But to ignore his friend's plight, and among them two that had been vying for his personal attention, to launch another attack… no Nukpana hadn't dare hoped. Perhaps the loss of his team wasn't so bad. After all he might have found his first replacement.

It was just a shame he'd needed to leave his weapons behind, but at least they were firmly imbedded in the target. With any luck the target was already dead from the initial wounds. If not the venom the blades held should be releasing right about now should finish the wounded brat off.

Now he just needed to reach the extraction point before his obsessed pursuer caught up.

*

Sakura was fighting back tears. She'd pushed Naruto off of her when the boy didn't move. A part of her had been furious, it was obvious that the boy was just trying to find an excuse to be a pervert. A larger part only wished that to be true.

If he wasn't being a pervert that meant that by shielding her Naruto had been killed. It turned out she was only partially right, when she pushed her way past the prone genin, she'd heard him give a tiny grunt. He was still alive.

But her training told her he wouldn't be for long. She'd made him as comfortable as possible and placed Akimaru onto of the bandages on Kiba's leg so she could focus on Naruto. She wasn't really sure what to do.

There were two axes buried in his chest. On the right side. The first was right under the boy's arm pit. It looked like the axe had bitten in deep. She suspected his rib cage might have sustained damage. The other was buried in his hip. She was positive that axe had left Naruto with broken bones.

The question was what to do. The boy was obviously horribly injured. So far a copious amount of blood was leaking out around the weapons. If she pulled the blades out she risked worsening the damage. But she couldn't effectively bind the wounds while the axes were still in. She had a feeling it wouldn't matter if Ino didn't arrive with help soon.

*

Outside the school house the situation had gone from bad to worse. When Naruto passed out from the combined strain of the wounds and the toxin tearing through his system the flow of chakra he'd been reflexively been pumping into the clones to keep them in existence ceased. The clones vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving Shikamaru and the genins he'd assumed command of, on their own.

Shikamaru cursed. This was troublesome. The good news was that the army of clones had done a fair amount of damage to the enemy forces before disappearing. Still he and the remaining genins were clearly outnumbered. And a large part of their current strategy had been to allow Naruto's clones to distract the enemy and attack targets who were exposed, which had minimized their casualties. With their small force the only one left for the enemy to contend with, Shikamaru was positive that the casualty rate would grow very quickly.

Well there was only one chance. Gritting his teeth Shikamaru took advantage of the position of the sun in the sky and poured all of his chakra into one last ditch technique. He'd hoped to keep this a secret for as long as possible, but it wasn't worth dying over.

His shadow stretched and elongated, surging towards the spirit clones. They hadn't yet reacted to the disappearances of the Naruto clones, so they were all still relatively close together. One by one they fell victim to the surging shadow.

He'd managed to catch most of them, but he couldn't hold the jutsu for long.

"Attack them now! They're helpless," he bellowed.

The remaining genins surged forward. It was troublesome how instinctively they seemed to listen to him. What was more troublesome was that he doubted with their depleted numbers they'd be able to wipe out enough of the clones in time.

*

Her muscles burned and sweat was streaming down her forehead into her eyes. Her vision blurred and she miscalculated the distance for her next jump. As she began her descent the next building was still out of reach.

She'd forgotten where in the city she was. The buildings in this section were further apart than those near the academy. She remembered Iruka explaining that and several other structural inconsistencies throughout the village in several of his lectures. It was meant to catch enemy ninja off guard during a chase.

In her rush to make it to the hospital for help Ino had fallen into the same trap. She'd forgotten to pay attention and now she was going to pay. Thankfully the building she'd been on wasn't that tall. It was a smaller store in the merchant quarter which abutted both the academy and the hospital.

Unfortunately she landed poorly. Her ankle gave way with a sharp motion and her feet fell out from her. She ended up sitting on her butt, a howl of pain escaping. When two hands grabbed her shoulders she couldn't believe the mistake she'd made. Not only had she managed to fall and twist her ankle, the pain was unmistakable, she'd alerted an enemy to her presence. She'd have to bide her time and hope she'd be able to seize an opening before she was killed. Or worse.

*

The attack been in progress for fifteen minutes at this point. She could still here the sounds of fighting in the distance. It was disturbing. The job of the ninja was simple: Complete the mission effectively and as quickly as possible.

This mission's objective was simple. Kill the Kyubbi's vessel, freeing the avatar and returning the greater balance. She wasn't quite sure why it had been necessary to try and deceive the damned leaf as to the true nature of the mission. She understood that deception was a part of the shinobi way, but it seemed unnecessary.

Which meant that Anaba was planning something that he was not telling her about. The thought annoyed her. She knew she wasn't privy to the entire picture. She couldn't be really. Since her primary job was infiltration, the less she knew about the overall picture of her own village's plans the better. In the off chance that she was caught she'd be unable to betray their secrets even if she wanted to. But first they'd she'd have to be caught.

It hadn't happened yet. The rest of the raiders seemed surprised that she was so effective. Especially that old fool who was the village's Caller. She supposed she should cut him a little slack. It was difficult to be a painted without a stark reverence for the traditions of the tribe, and it was unthinkable that a caller would not be a staunch advocate of the old ways.

But really, how hard was it to see that the woman's role of leader and diplomat could easily be applied against an enemy. Diplomacy and leadership was more than bringing messages and issuing decrees. To be effective you had to learn how to read what was important to your target, and learn how to present yourself in such a way as to take advantage of the target's desires. There was little difference in convincing a stubborn prince to sign a treaty and convincing the local mothers that you were a widow from Wave Country. Well, actually many mothers were far smarter and observant than the princes she'd had to deal with, but the principal was the same.

But she'd found the role of her mothers and grandmothers too predictable, too boring. So she'd taken her natural talents and applied them elsewhere. No one was able to create a more convincing identity than her. Even visiting traders from the Wave country thought she was a native citizen of their homeland driven into Fire country territory as a result of the current upheavals.

Of course the truth was more complicated. Her mission was to create a deep cover inside the village of Konoha in preparation of the day the Village hidden beneath the stars was ready to move against out the blasphemers. She'd thought today would be that day, but her standing orders said differently. Instead of killing the Uzumaki child herself, or aiding the attackers in anyway, she was to do anything necessary to maintain her cover. Which had her cowering in store, after wasting a morning restocking inventory and preparing purchase orders. No one would be coming in that morning. But it was the pattern she followed everyday and she'd be damned if Ibiki caught her because of a simple slip up like violating a pattern on the day of an attack.

Before she could descend to distracting herself with thoughts of her one true opponent, a girl's scream forced her to focus on the present moment. The scream was close, too close. It come from down the block. The attack was supposed to stick to the periphery of the village where the high value targets were located. Some painted must have gotten too caught up having his clones pursue a fleeing target. Or Nukpana had slipped his leash again.

Still there was nothing to it. She was supposed to be a tough as nails woman who'd survived the death of her husband and sun, and managed to go from penniless refugee to a major merchant in only a small amount of time. If there was a child in distress she'd have to go. She only hoped she managed to avoid any clones. It would be a pain coming up with a cover story for the encounter.

She'd found the girl a street away, near her workshop. The child was a young girl, and she was wearing a one of the Leaf's headbands. Idiots. The purpose of a ninja was to move unseen and undetected. It was entirely against the point to announce your allegiance to any who looked at your forehead.

As she got closer it looked the girl was young enough to be a raw recruit. From the way she was sitting, it was obvious that her ankle was damaged. There was no way to tell how bad the damage was. Still she'd better err on the side of preserving her cover and assume the girl was currently helpless.

In seconds Mai had grabbed the girl's shoulders and started dragging her across the few inches that separated them from the workshop. The things she did to maintain a cover.

*

Sasuke was gaining ground on his prey. The overconfident fool obviously hadn't expected Sasuke to launch a counterattack when trapped. As a result he'd proven just how strong he was. His prey was weakened. Obviously enough that he was slowing down. Within another minute Sasuke knew he'd have the annoying bastard in his clutches.

If the boy had the presence of mind to check his surroundings he'd have realized that Nukpana had not been traveling in a straight line, the way he would if he was interested in the quickest route from the village. Nor had the enemy employed a jerking random zigzag which would have made him harder to track.

Instead Nukpana's path was a gentle curve. Not sharp enough to risk losing Sasuke, or alert the boy that something was wrong. Not that he needed to worry about that. The only thing the boy was interested in was the defeat of his opponent.

*

Inside the classroom where only a short time ago he'd been awaiting his team assignment and the start of the next chapter of his life, Naruto Uzumaki was on death's door. His skin had become a nearly translucent color as the chakra enhanced venom tore its way through his system.

The poison's introduction to his system had gone unnoticed by the girl doing her best to staunch his wounds without disturbing the weapons jutting from his flesh. Now her attention was firmly on the wounds as the boy's body began to tremble as his temperature rose.

Panic seized her. If he continued to shake the weapons were going to further tear his flesh. There was no hope for it. She was going to have to remove them.

But she didn't know what she was doing! She could make it worse. Her hands trembled as she tried to bring them forward, to grab the handle of the lower ax. They had to have covered this in some class, some lesson. Shinobi were wounded all the time. They wouldn't not cover removing a weapon from a wound.

So why was the only thing she could remember to never remove anything from a person. She knew all the horrible things that could happen. She could pull at the wrong angle and open up the wound more. She could knick an artery. The pressure of the blade might be keeping more blood from gushing out.

She ran out of time for debate when Naruto's shaking intensified. There was no choice, no time. With a part of her screaming at her to be strong and at Naruto for being dumb enough to get this badly injured, she grabbed the haft of the blade with one hand and the flesh around the wound with the other. Holding him as steady as she could she gingerly pulled the axe free. The horrible weapon slid out with a minimal amount of tearing. That she could see at least. Cursing herself, she grabbed the blade from where it rested on the floor. She couldn't believe she'd forgotten so basic a tenant. You had to check blades, make sure they weren't poisoned. The pressure of the moment had been too much and she'd messed up. Now she could only hope there would be nothing on the blade, and that Naruto would be fine.

A quick sniff told her otherwise. Her hopes dashed, she forced her inner voice to quiet down. She had to think. There was no time to try and console herself. The scent was familiar. She would have to try and remember which one of the various poisons they'd been forced to study it could be.

But first she had a wound to bandage and another axe to remove. As she ripped more fabric from her outfit she hoped that she had the antidote on hand.

*

A large door slammed shut locking Ino inside the large dark room she'd been dragged into. She coughed loudly, as something irritated her nose. The room smelt of some strange combination she couldn't place.

The room was dark, and from the sound of it whoever had grabbed her had walked off. So the question was what to do. At first Ino had assumed she'd been grabbed by an assailant. But no kunai had been stuck into her neck, and more opponents hadn't arrived. The greatest surprise came when she'd heard a key being inserted in the lock chaining the doors closed. It didn't necessarily mean she was safe. It could be an enemy spy, or they could have killed the owner and took control of the building.

She was still trying to figure out what to do when the flights flared to life. After a few seconds of pained blinking she was once again able to see under the bright fluorescent bulbs.

When her eyes had adjusted she found herself staring at a familiar face. It was Miss Aida. Ino felt a sense of relief wash over her. She must have landed near Miss Aida's store. The older woman had just finished locking up and was walking toward her looking concerned.

"Okay we should be safe here. Can you move?"

Ino tried to stand and received a burst of pain for her troubles. The older woman gave a sad laugh and moved closer to look at the ankle.

"Stubborn. You could have just said no. Let me see that ankle. Does this hurt. Yes I'd say it does. Well nothing to do about it. It's sprained. You'll have to stay off it for a while."

The embarrassed blush that had formed on Ino's face after the whimper that had escaped form the older woman touching her ankle faded. It was replaced by a look of worry.

"No! I have to get to the hospital!"

"For a sprain? That seems a little,"

"No! I mean, no Miss Aida. The school was attacked. Kiba's going to.. and Naruto… they're going to…"

Mai wanted to scream in frustration. She'd thought the girl looked familiar. It was the flower seller's daughter and one of the new genins. The children must have survived Nukpana's attentions. Which meant that the bloodthirsty bastard had most likely failed and was lying dead somewhere. That or he was too caught up with slaughtering random children to focus on actually killing his damned target. Those were the only two explanations she could think of for any of the kids surviving.

Which left her a choice. She could refuse to help Ino, try and explain that there was nothing she could do. But it would be a stretch for her cover. She was supposed to be a brave resolute woman of the wave who'd lost her entire family, and village in a similar circumstance. Would she really sit by and do nothing?

No she wouldn't. And her orders were explicit. She had to maintain her cover. So if that meant saving a couple of kids who shouldn't have been in the line of fire in the first place… well her hands were tied weren't they. Anaba would have to understand. Hell if it had been any squad but Nukpana's she doubted she'd need to go roaring to the rescue.

Ino watched the emotions display over the woman's face. The display scared her and for a second Ino wondered if she'd been mistaken. Maybe she'd fallen into a trap. Never had she seen such a look of anger and hatred. It didn't make sense on the normally smiling woman who brought vases to her mother's flower store, and to whose shop Ino often brought fresh bouquets and arrangements.

Not until she heard the woman whisper, "not again."

Snatches of overheard conversation, and thoughtlessly spoken tidbits swirled in Ino's mind. Her few years of training kicked in and despite the stress, pain, and fear, she put together another possible answer.

Miss Aida had lived in Wave country and left suddenly with little to her name. She'd made it big trading in Fire country, and several of Ino had on several occasions seen people accidentally address Miss Aida with the prefix for married women. An intense sad look at always come over the woman's face. Given the current unrest in Wave and the woman's sudden penniless departure and subsequent acceptance in the Fire country, it was likely that she was a refugee who'd lost her family in a similar attack to the one the leaf was currently experiencing. She might have even lost a son Kiba's age.

"It's decided then." The non-sequitur caught Ino off-guard. She hadn't been privy to whatever internal conversation the woman had been having. Logic would dictate that the woman had been deciding whether to help or remain in safety.

She'd spent too long worrying, trying to figure out the woman's intentions. Miss Aida had walked away from her. If Ino was wrong, if Miss Aida wasn't who she claimed to be, then the girl had given up her last chance of survival. The older woman was too far away to grab, and Ino had run out of kunai during her frantic dash for the hospital. She'd been ambushed by a group of the strange glowing enemy. She'd managed to dispel them, but it had left her without weapons.

Miss Aida was now over by a strange cloth. With a flourish the woman wrenched the large thing aside. Underneath the blue curtain was a strange contraption of metal and rubber that Ino had never seen before. It had two wheels, one in the front and one in the back. There seemed to a seat in the middle. She would almost call it a bicycle, but the metal was much thicker and there were strange pipes and tubes coursing throughout it. On each side of the strange device were two small open metal things. They sort of looked like large cups. Each had a wheel on the bottom. Miss Aida had climbed into the strange seat in the center and had placed her hands on the two handles that sprouted from the head of the strange thing. On her head was a pair of goggles much like the ones Naruto wore and a strange brown leather jacket was wrapped around her waist. With a large smile and a thumbs up the woman declared:

"We'll just have to rescue your friends!"


End file.
